The California State University Employee Update
Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Debt Deal Preserves Pell Grants

More than 140,000 CSU students will be able to receive Pell Awards following President Barack Obama's signing last week of the debt ceiling bill.

Known as “The Budget Control Act of 2011(S 365),” the bill sets aside $17 billion to sustain the need-based Pell Grant program over the next two fiscal years ($10 billion for fiscal year 2012, $7 billion for fiscal year 2013), maintaining the maximum Pell Grant at $5,550 and avoiding cuts to student eligibility. The CSU is one of the nation’s largest recipients of the need-based Pell Grant program, receiving approximately $550 million annually in Pell awards for its students.

As Pell funding was threatened during the budget discussions, CSU leaders, led by Chancellor B. Reed, advocated strongly against any cuts stressing the potentially devastating impact they would have on the CSU’s students. More information.

Online Learning Initiative Formed

The CSU has created “CSU Online,” an online learning initiative that will address California’s expanding workforce needs and increase access to high quality education.

The initiative, which is in the conceptual stage, is sponsored by the Technology Steering Committee (TSC), a subset of campus presidents that provides advice and recommendations to the chancellor about major technology initiatives.

Several draft discussion documents that proffer the TSC’s initial ideas are available on the CSU Online web site which was created to facilitate communication between the TSC and various CSU stakeholder groups. The website includes background on the initiative, along with documents for review, frequently asked questions and a feedback form for comments and questions. The effort to date builds on the work of many at the CSU and involved hundreds of interviews.

The TSC will recruit a CSU Online Executive Director who will consult with campuses and stakeholder groups on the opportunities, vision and issues that have been identified.

Thirteen CSU’s Seen as Best by Forbes

Thirteen California State University campuses were recognized among Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the best undergraduate institutions in America for their quality of teaching, great career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt.

Among the 650 national universities ranked, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (#230), California Maritime Academy (#258), Cal State Long Beach (#289), Cal Poly Pomona (#405), Chico State (#451), Fresno State (#463), San Jose State (#470), Cal State Northridge (#498), Sacramento State (#501), Cal State Fullerton (#515), Cal State San Bernardino (#524), San Diego State (#525) and San Francisco State (#616) were listed.

Additionally, Forbes listed California Maritime Academy 18th in the “Top 20 Best Value Colleges” for providing students with the highest quality education for their academic dollar. More information.